POETIC LICENSE

September 25, 2012

Something I learned when I was studying poetics is that the persona or the speaking voice in the poem is not necessarily the author. This comes to mind as a writer-friend sent me a Facebook message telling me to be careful because my latest poem is so thought provoking and might provoke the wrong people–those who don’t understand the art of poetry.

You see the poet is simply being utilized by the so-called poetic voice in the biosphere. The elements of the poem are not entirely of his own making but are the result of the interplay between internal and external metaphoric meditation. The poet breathes in and out the soul of the poem which is more than language at its face value.